The social networking, Facebook, have purchased the messaging company WhatsApp in a deal worth $19 Billion in total. WhatsApp is a pretty much free (users pay 99p/year) messaging service with around 450 million monthly active users around the world. The service has become extremely popular due to its almost universal compatibility - it's available on iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian (Nokia) and Windows phone.
GoPro To Go Public
GoPro, the rugged and wearable camera company announced on Friday that it plans to go public and has filed confidential IPO documents - meaning it doesn't have to release financial information just yet. The company is thought to be worth just over $2 Billion and only a few days ago appointed a new CFO, Jack Lazar.
GoPro have come a long way since they released their first camera back in 2005 which used 35mm film and weighed 200g. The latest camera is the Hero3+ which can shoot in 4K video and weighs just 74g.
If You Value Your Phone, Don't Get This Game
A new game has shot to the top of the App Store, and it will make you throw your phone. The game, called Flappy Bird, is an arcade style game in which you must tap the screen to make a little bird fly higher. The aim is to get through as many obstacles as possible but it's insanely frustrating and will probably end in you throwing your phone at a wall.
Flappy Birds is available now on iOS and Android.
Google Ramps Up It's Product Business with Nest Labs
Google has announced plans to purchase the smart thermostat company Nest Labs for £2 billion ($3.2 billion). Nest Labs creates a smart thermostat that learns your routine, can understand when the house is empty, and can be controlled via a smartphone, thus bringing cost and energy savings. Another recently released product is a smoke detector called Nest Protect which has numerous features that make is distinct from regular smoke detectors such as alerts to your phone.
In interviews the company founder and CEO, who was previously an Apple Executive, has said that Nest will be run separate to Google but can now use it's huge resources to improve their products faster.
Their acquisition of Nest Labs really proves that Google is becoming more of a products company with it's sights set on automation and machine learning.
This is the latest in a series of recent acquisitions by Google including robotics firm Boston Dynamics and Motorola.
Who's next up for Google? Leave your thoughts below.
Google Buys Bitspin
A small swiss company, Bitspin, that makes a good looking Android app called Timely has been acquired by Google. Timely is an intuitive alarm clock app with a great looking UI. What would Google want with a small company like this? Developers.